كان هناك صبي يبلغ من العمر خمس سنوات.

It was summertime — and of course — there were fireflies.

Many, many fireflies.

This child, with his mommy and his daddy, spent one summer evening chasing those fireflies…and catching them…and putting them each, واحدا تلو الآخر, into a tall jar.

Now…there is this jar….like a lantern….filled with maybe twenty or so fireflies.

This classic childhood adventure was then followed by a bath — and bed — and the lantern of fireflies was put on his dresser. There was then a story, a kiss and the door was closed.

It was perhaps thirty minutes later that the boy called out….mommy!

When his mommy opened the door she was greeted by maybe twenty or so fireflies….flying all around his room.

He had opened the jar to let them out.

How is it then, that you gather together twenty little bits of flying light and return them to a jar — or release them into the world?

في الامس, our twenty-seven year old son texted me, asking “mom, what is it that you are going to write about today?

I am writing, وقمت بالإجابة, about darkness. “Wait”, هو قال. “There is too much of it in the world anyway…why even talk about it”.

“So”, قلت, “I can talk about the light.”

Darkness is a scary creation.

It was originally created to be without end, like light. An unlimited creation, if you will. When darkness was created, God saw that if darkness was allowed to be infinite — like light — then the world would destroy itself. And so he created an end to the darkness.

Listen: I have been in darkness. Most of you have. عندما نكون في الظلام, لا يبدو أنه ستكون هناك نهاية, يفعل ذلك?

في البداية, عندما غربت الشمس لأول مرة, كان آدم مرعوبًا. أخافه الظلام. إنه يخيفنا. هو دائما كذلك. لقد اعتقدنا أننا في خطر أكبر في الليل - قد نكون كذلك, في الواقع.

لكني سمعت أن الله لا ينسحب مع غروب الشمس.

ربما لن تتفاجأ إذا اقترحت ذلك الآن, في عالمنا, نحن في زمن الظلام. سواد النور, يدعي. مثل هذا الوقت يحتم علينا أن نهدأ, على المثابرة, إلى توخي الحذر.

حقيقة, وفقًا لبعض الفلسفات التقليدية, خلال مثل هذا الوقت يعتبر تألق شديد السطوع أمرًا خطيرًا, لإظهار نورك. ولكن أن تكون شرارة صغيرة في الأشياء الصغيرة ... فهذه طريقة للمضي قدمًا. يمكننا أن نحجب نورنا, ومع ذلك لا يزال يلمع.

ربما علينا أن نقبل بكل تواضع أن الأوقات هكذا. لدينا عالم متداعي ... وربما يكون سبب تعتيم النور - الغرض من الظلام - هو التعجيل بإخراج النور الذي يحمله كل منا سراً.

النور يحتاج للظلام لكي يُرى. اليراع غير مرئية في النهار. البطل لا ينهض حتى يظهر الشرير وجهه.

قد تعرف القصة التي كانت عندما خلق العالم, وضع الله نور العالم كله في أواني ... وكلف الملائكة بحملها إلى السماء. أوعية الضوء, كما يبدو - لم تكن خفيفة على الإطلاق - كانت ثقيلة جدًا في الواقع.

كلما حملوا الأوعية أعلى وأعلى كلما أصبحت أثقل, until at last these vessels slipped from the arms of the angels, falling to earth and shattering into pieces. Millions and millions of pieces.

وفقا لهذه القصة, it is our job, in our lifetimes, to bring the sparks of light back together.

We have work to do.

In a book found buried in Egypt in 1945 it says “There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness.” And “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”

Darkness is — in many ways — an opportunity.

Imagine if you will that we are seeds. We are seeds, planted deep in the ground. Where we are it is safe, إنه مظلم, we are contained. But seeds were not meant to stay in the dark.

Plato wrote, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the Light.”

Unlike the fireflies, we cannot collect the night and put it into a jar. Darkness cannot be removed…it can only be scattered by bringing in light.

By adding light.

How do we add light? Sure…we can march at rallies and sign petitions and make phone calls…but that is not enough. We have to connect with others…with each other. Personally. In person. With kindness. And gently. It has been said that the darkness in the world mirrors the darkness in our hearts.

Sparks — by themselves — separately — will go out.

But a spark joined by another spark — and another — and another, creates a sustaining light.

The period of separating ourselves from others must, necessarily, be over.

حقيقة, it was Martin Luther King who said “Darkness can’t drive out darkness, only light can do this. Hate can’t drive out hate, only love can do this.”

When you allow yourself to connect with others…there are things that you should expect.

Expect things to be different in your life. Expect to feel afraid — you are walking out of a window into the sky — and when you do — things will feel strange. And you will feel panic.

Almost the same kind of panic, في الواقع, that a young mother would feel, walking into her son’s room which is now filled with fireflies — in happy chaotic freedom from their jar.

Like taking our first steps…carefully connecting with others and fostering kindness and care.

Brings in light to chase away the darkness.

So again I ask: How is it then, that you gather together twenty little bits of flying light and return them to a jar — or release them into the world?

You gather light, you gather fireflies — one by one — and add them to the jar. شخص واحد في كل مرة, one hour, one day at a time. Carefully, deliberately. Sanctifying each and every moment, making every meeting a holy one.

Because each person represents a different face of God.

We can survive this time of darkness. We can get through, with caution, the darkening of the light.

Remember — God does not withdraw with the setting of the sun.

لدينا القدرة - والعناية - لإعادة اليراعات إلى الجرة ... وبعد ذلك بعناية ... إطلاقها في العالم.

سوف يستغرق الأمر الملايين والملايين من الشرارات الصغيرة لتغيير الأشياء.

كما كتبت من قبل - وقد سمعني بعضكم أقول ...

نحن نستنشق الالهيه - وعندما نزفر, نحن نتنفس من النجوم.